The Carnival of Animals is a dark thriller set in the small town of Verde, Texas. I was pulled towards this read by the cover, which reminded me of the neon pink cover of Open Throat, which I loved. The story, writing, and characters easily proved that the cover (while amazing) was not the best part of this book!

The novel focuses on Tilly Hutto, a town vet who is called in to the recent mysterious deaths of animals in her small town. Tilly is a woman after my own heart; independent, speaks her mind, and cares for those around her. She takes no shit. After a girl goes missing in town and Tilly gets involved in a scientific project at the local ranch, she realizes things may not be what they seem.

I loved the parallel's in this novel with Frankenstein; when does creation and scientific ambition cross a line? When is it right to feel sympathy for robotic AI creatures? And when does the lack of empathy show one's true colors? Characters in the novel easily represent the scientific and religious arguments to these questions, with Tilly falling somewhere in between with her own personal beliefs.

Additionally, the plot begs the question, when is prolonging suffering unethical, instead of mercy? With Tilly serving animals bred for hunting and slaughter, she constantly wonders if all she does is allow these animals to live for the human's benefiting from them.

I'll end this interview by emphasizing how much I loved this book. I can easily imagine it as a TV show, with eerie and tense small town characters (and I would watch the shit out of it and talk about it to all my friends). Highly recommend!

4.5 ⭐

This book was INCREDIBLE and I have no idea why publishers didn't want to publish this!

The book follows Tilly, a vet in a small town in Texas. Overnight, a child goes missing and a calf is found mutilated and missing organs. Whilst trying to work out what has happened (alongside the sheriff), Tilly is recruited to a top secret hunting project that she reluctantly accepts so she can afford her mother's care home bill. However, the project is much much more messed up than it seems (and it already seems pretty twisted!)

This book covers some big topics (animal rights and what makes one animal more important than another, misogyny and sexism and science and religion) whilst keeping you on the edge of your seat. Seriously I read the last few pages in the cinema as I HAD to find out what happened.

I cannot recommend this thought provoking, shocking and gripping book enough.

Oh and also, can we mention how STUNNING the cover is?!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Waylon Fitzgerald Press for this ARC!

🐯🐄🏹

Absolutely loved it! The character of Tilly was perfectly written and I loved following her in this book. Atmospheric and emotional highly recommended!

I liked the amount of thought that went into this book.
Everything felt intentional, every animal sighting, every scene felt like it was made with so much thought and care that it was hard not to appreciate.
This is not your normal book. There is a very atmospheric, gripping quality about it that made it AMAZING
At the end of the book, the author said that no one wanted to publish this book, and may I just say, THOSE PEOPLE ARE NUTS!!
This book is really incredible and obviously is speaking to the times we are living in, focusing on unchecked science, the different qualities of nature and the idea of souls.
It was so cool!!!
I really loved it.
Also, thank you so much Netgalley!!! This was a great one.

What. A. Book.

Carnival of the Animals explores the ethics of hunting, artificial intelligence, what it means to be human, and what makes one animal more ~special~ than another. As a pretty much life long vegetarian and animal lover this is an incredibly compelling novel. Loretta Cline does an excellent job examining these themes while creating a tense atmosphere where increasingly strange and disturbing events happen around the town of Verde, Texas. I did NOT see the twist in this coming by a mile. I think how betrayed I, the reader, feels demonstrates how excellent of a job Cline did developing these characters. The ending did wrap up almost too quickly and neatly. I wish it had been a longer. I cannot wait to see what Loretta Cline does next!

There is definitely a strong warning for some graphic violence against animals and humans.

Thank you NetGalley and Waylon Fitzgerald Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Loretta Cline’s “Carnival of the Animals” is a dark, speculative thriller that explores science fiction and philosophical inquiry all wrapped around a mystery that unveils a disturbing truth about technology, ethics, and the boundaries of life itself. Set in the small town of Verde, Texas, the story develops unsettling sci-fi and body horror elements with thought-provoking questions about artificial intelligence, scientific ambition, and humanity’s desire to control nature.

The story centers on veterinarian Tilly Hutto who is drawn into a series of strange events after performing a post-mortem examination on a mysteriously dead calf. Around the same time, a young girl disappears, and unsettling incidents begin to escalate like with animals going missing, deaths occuring under suspicious circumstances, and Tilly herself experiences troubling episodes of sleepwalking. Her investigation eventually leads her to a high-tech hunting ranch experimenting with advanced animatronic animals powered by artificial intelligence, forcing her to confront disturbing questions about what it means to be alive.

One of the book’s most compelling aspects is its central concept. The idea of animatronic wild animals that can learn and evolve independently creates an eerie atmosphere and serves as a vehicle for exploring the dangers of unchecked scientific ambition. The story echoes classic cautionary tales like Frankenstein and Jurassic Park, examining the consequences of “playing God” through technology and experimentation. As the line between human and machine becomes increasingly blurred, the story raises philosophical questions about the nature of consciousness, the soul, and the ethics of creating life for human purposes. The book gets more philosophical than I was expecting, but there are still plenty of horror elements throughout, mainly involving dead animals.

The book also functions as a mystery, gradually connecting the strange occurrences in Verde, from missing animals and suspicious deaths to secret scientific projects, into a larger plot about experimentation in the name of progress. Cline’s writing is engaging and fluid, and the plot consistently introduces new revelations that keep you wondering what is going to happen next. The unexpected twists, particularly the final revelations about the experiments and the motivations behind them, deliver a suspenseful and ultimately bittersweet resolution.

Content warnings may be necessary as the book contains graphic descriptions of mutilated bodies, organ theft, and animal deaths, including domesticated animals, which can be difficult to read. While these elements reinforce the story’s themes about the cost of scientific progress, they may be overwhelming for some. Additionally, the rapid advancement of the animatronic technology can feel unrealistic, requiring a degree of suspended disbelief, and the pacing sometimes feels uneven as the book rushes through major developments at times while leaving some plot points and character arcs less fully explored.

Overall, “Carnival of the Animals” is a gripping and unsettling thriller. With its disturbing imagery, ethical dilemmas, and speculative exploration of artificial intelligence, the story offers a unique and thought-provoking reading experience. Fans of dark speculative fiction and mystery-driven stories will find much to consider in this haunting story about the consequences of human ambition.